1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates generally to industrial control systems. More particularly, the invention relates to certain new and useful advances for interfacing workflow instructions in an industrial or manufacturing setting.
2. Description of Related Art
A complex industrial system line requires an organized hierarchy of systems, particularly in regard to advanced products, for example, magnetic resonance imaging systems and gas turbines.
Manufacturing many of these advanced products takes a vast amount of skill and technique from Operators in many different disciplines. Logistically, improvements have been made over the better part of the last few decades to mitigate the myriad of errors that can occur with such a large undertaking. For example, during manufacturing of an advanced product, Operators must follow strict procedural guidelines to maintain the integrity of the products. For this reason, manufacturers put into place workflow-instruction technology, which assists in digitizing procedures in the workflow. Workflow software prompts operators and guides then through them through standard operating procedures (SOPs), verifying their compliance, prompting for data input for quality and process data, while also checking for errors.
An example of workflow software includes Proficy Workflow® by GE Intelligent Platforms, which provides a system that enables manufactures to digitize manual and automated processes such as capturing process, traceability and quality data across systems to reduce errors, waste and delays.
In a traditional system, an operator may be proximate the product to which a workflow process is applicable. When the product reaches the operator, the SOPs, which reside on a workflow terminal via the software discussed above, prompt the operator with a set of specific instructions. The operator, upon receipt of said instruction, then physically moves to the product and performs the given operation or procedure according to the SOP. The operator then must move back to the workflow terminal and confirm the instructions were followed, at which time a new or subsequent SOP, in a series of SOPs may be given. This process can continue unabated, and with each set of instructions of the series of instructions, the operator must move from the product to the workflow terminal, back to the product and back to the monitor. Further, the operator may input certain quality control indicia together with certain data for storage.
The requirement of the operator to move from the product to receive SOPs while also verifying SOPs is cumbersome and inefficient, at best. It further increases the probability of injury and mistake.
Accordingly, to date, no suitable interface for operator management of a workflow system exists.